First PREMIER Bank Reduces Stock Position in Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS)

First PREMIER Bank reduced its position in shares of Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS) by 16.7% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 1,175 shares of the company’s stock after selling 235 shares during the period. First PREMIER Bank’s holdings in Novartis were worth $114,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of NVS. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC bought a new stake in shares of Novartis in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $28,000. Fortitude Family Office LLC boosted its holdings in Novartis by 503.8% in the third quarter. Fortitude Family Office LLC now owns 320 shares of the company’s stock valued at $37,000 after acquiring an additional 267 shares in the last quarter. Clean Yield Group purchased a new position in Novartis during the 3rd quarter valued at $43,000. Brooklyn Investment Group bought a new position in Novartis in the 4th quarter worth $55,000. Finally, Versant Capital Management Inc lifted its position in shares of Novartis by 782.0% in the 4th quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 785 shares of the company’s stock worth $76,000 after purchasing an additional 696 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 13.12% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on NVS shares. HSBC cut shares of Novartis from a “hold” rating to a “reduce” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. Erste Group Bank restated a “hold” rating on shares of Novartis in a research note on Tuesday, November 19th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets raised their price objective on Novartis from $118.00 to $120.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and seven have issued a hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Novartis currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $121.50.

Novartis Trading Down 1.6 %

NYSE NVS opened at $98.17 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $200.65 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.40, a P/E/G ratio of 1.44 and a beta of 0.57. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $100.34 and its 200-day moving average price is $108.88. Novartis AG has a 12 month low of $92.35 and a 12 month high of $120.92. The company has a current ratio of 1.11, a quick ratio of 0.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55.

Novartis (NYSE:NVS) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 29th. The company reported $2.06 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.94 by $0.12. The business had revenue of $12.82 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $12.62 billion. Novartis had a return on equity of 34.80% and a net margin of 35.96%. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.74 EPS. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Novartis AG will post 7.62 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Novartis Profile

Novartis AG engages in the research, development, manufacture, and marketing of healthcare products in Switzerland and internationally. The company offers prescription medicines for patients and physicians. It focuses on therapeutic areas, such as cardiovascular, renal and metabolic, immunology, neuroscience, and oncology, as well as ophthalmology and hematology.